Electric igniter for gas or vapor engines.



No. 885,072. ENTENTEE AEE. 21,'1908.

L.v 0.5 MOP'HERSON.

EEEGTEIG IGNITEE EOE GAS 0E VAPOR ENGINES.

APPLIOTION FILED MAR. 25, 1897.

v the engine.

' mixture.. l The' invention consists substantiallyv in UNITED STATES 1PATENT OFFICE.

:LEopN o. M-cPHERsoN, oFiiiGiiLAND PARK, iLLiNo'is.

` 'ELECTRIC IGNi'rEn Fon,v GAS on VvaronEireriims.

Specificatibn of LettersPvatei-it. I

Patented April 21, '1908.

Application filed March 25,-189'1.y Serial No. 629,181.

To all whom it mai/concern:-

`Be it known that L LEON O. McPiiERsoN, a citizen of the UnitedStatesresiding at Highland Park, in the county of Lake l.and

State of Illinois, have invented a new and; l

useful Electric Igniter for-'Gas or Vapor Engines, of which thefollowing is a speciiica'' tion.

This invention relates to gas or vapor enine's of the class wherein acharge of inammable or explosive material isex lodedA within ,thecylinder or working cham' i' of The object ofthe invention is to',ravida a simple and eflicient. means for ut zing an electric current forigniting the inflammable the construction arrangement and .mode of oeration' all as' will be .more fully herein- -a terset forth,A as shownin the accompany ing drawing and finallyspeciically pointed( out inthe"appended'c1a Referring to the accompanying drawing andto the variousviews and reference signs appearing vthereon-Figure 1 is a detached viewin section illustrating aform of apparatus embodying -my invention andfor carrying the same linto 4practical 'perationr' Fig. 2 is a viewillustrating in invention asy applied to an engine, onl suc of thework-.-l

' ing. parts -of the engine.` eing shown as j-are necessary to show: theFcoperative Vrelation and operation ofmy invention.

' reference sign wherever'it 'occurs throughout the' several views.

Electrical iglniters forf-.gaslor'vapor enines, as vusua oftendependent` upon rubbingl contact pieces Within the vwork Suchl an;Iarrangement defective', lobjec-Y tionableandunsatisfactoryfby reason rof the; fact `that thel heat generated in such chain-fl b er'and towhich heat such rubbingor slidingsurfaces are subjected, causes suchsui'.- faces i to rapidlywear `out and deteriorate;

thereby-rapidly' destroying the efficiency -of the ignite'r and in a verlittle time perceptibly varyin the time o 'explosion and, hence equentlrenewal or* adjustment.. Ot erforms of apparatus of this class em-4 re,uiring ploy 'stung boxes or glands through the 'walls ofthe workingchamber of the engine in 'order tot permit vof the i communication ofexternal motion through 'the' cylinder or .chamber Walls;` tothesparking oints within. Such arrangements are also ective', ob-

jectionable and unsatisfactory for the reasonl that it. is,exceedinglydiflicult Ato maintainV y suchstufiin boxes or glands gastight under service con itioiis.`

arrangement and mode of operation whereby I' avoid 'all-the objections,defects and inefficiencies noted and provide a construction thatfis.extremely simple, inexpensive,

durable and ei'licient and practicaly in va- ,I will now describe myconstruction and' riable through long periods of active service. f

In carrying my invention intopracticalv o yeration-I 'provide' anelectric circuit inc riding two contact points arranged within 4thechamber-'or cylinder of the engine or in connection and operativerelation with re4 spect .to .the explosion 'chamber of lthe engine,-such .contact oints bein movable towards and from eac "other, an lrupture` such circuit. between thev twocontacts mag- 1 netically withinthefcylinder or explosion y-chainberandv hence without external move-'me'nt The current may be supplied in any suitable manner, as from abatteryor from" any .suitably arranged generator, and .such

circuit may be primarily opened or closed in le. or convenient manner,and

any suita `man different forms of apparatus Amay be em oyedfor-carryingthe electrical prin- 'cip estoil my invention into practicaleffectl and operation.

In the accompanying drawings reference l lsign A designatesfa suitablecasting .havin a threaded' portion or nipple adapted to Y- e screwedinto -a correspondingly threaded amber,` This casting is provided with.an extension, a', arran edto. project into the explosion chamber ancarries at its free end -.one of the .contacts or .spark producingelectriodee,` 1i. This vprojection' also Asuports, nea!"j-.theiree'end'Atl ereof, an insulatingV lock opening into the engine cylinder orexplosion c ioo l cation withth'e chamber between the .B and the`casting A, and which,- as a chamber between said plate and casting,

such' chamber being in free communication with the cylinder orexplosion'chamber O,

through the nipple above referred to. An electro-magnet E, isarrangedwitli' .one of the oles thereof rigidly attached to `andprojecting through the plate or casting B. Any suitable or desirableconstruction of electroinagnet may be employed but may be smaller thanheretofore ordinarily employed for this urpose,'o\ving to the greaterefliciency ofp the spark producing electrodes, as will be more fullyhereinafter set forth.

laminated'core, such core should be well soldered or suitably covered atthe inner end, in order to prevent leakage of the gas through the core,as the end of such core projects through casing B and into communilateove with the' engine.' r-I`he pointed out, is in free communication theworkinor chamberl of plate or casting B is 'provided with a cored recessarranged to receive and form a guide bearing for the outer endof'contact rod b, and a spring b2 vis narranged in said cored outportion and bears against a-collar b3, carried y said rod 1),. andnormally acts upon said rod to press the contact point or electrode 2,carried by the inner end thereof, firmly into contact with theelectrode 1. An arme, supported at one end by aspring e', is ar- Aranged within the chamber between-plate B the points- 1 2.

isv shown wherein fthe collar b3, .carried by,

and casting A, and forms the armature of the poleof theelectro-magnet,E.' The normal ,lis to hold said arm away magnet E andagainst a suitable insulated orinsulating stop e?. The free endof saidarm e, is' so relatively arranged with respect to 'rod b, that when the-coils of said' magnet E are energizcd, thereby exert. ing -anattractive overcome spring e', and move said *arm against the pole ofsaid magnet E, said rod b,

y said arm and moved in a di-A break electrical contact between 'A.convenient arrangement rection to rod b, is normally arranged in -thepath of the free' endof arm e, so as to be struck vthereby when said armyis attractedjby Amagnet E, thereby compressing'spring b?, and effectingt a uickse aration of e electrodes 1, 2.

`rom t ie foregoing descriptionA it will be readily seen that in orderto produce a spark case an electro-magnet is employcdzliaving avformsand arrangements of a ton plosion. force u pon said -arm .to

to ignite the explosive charge it is only necessary to couple up asource of current with the electrodes of magnet E, thereby causing saidmagnet to exert an attractive force on armature lever or arm c, which,under the movement imparted by lsuch attractive force strikes the collarb, a smart blow thereby effecting a temporary rupture of the circuit byse arating the electrodes 1, 2, and producing t' ie desired spark. Themoment this ru ture occurs the attractive force exerte by theelectro-magnet upon lever e, ceases and spring e returns said lever toits normal position against sto e2, thus permitting spring p b2 to againestab ish contact between electrodes 1, 2, whereupon the magnet is againenergized and the above operation is repeated and the operation proceedsso long as the connections are maintained.

In order to adapt the apparatus more per-v fectly to the engineconditions most commonly met with in service, I may, ifdesired, providea circuit controlling device, the function of which is to prevent aclosing of the circuit except at the` proper time for explod` ing acharge of gas'.` Many different specific paratus may be employed'forperforming tiis duty. In Fig.. 1, I ave shown a simple arrangement,wherein Il rovide plate B with a suitable cored cylin rical recess orchamber, in which I arrange a diaphra m or piston H, carrying a contactstem or roi 3, adapted to make contact with a Suitable insulatedterminal 4, arrangIeId in the circuit. The diaphragm or pisnormallyholds the stem 3 out of contact with the terminal 4, `This may beaccomplished by `arranging a spring 71.', to normally bear on piston Hand maintain the same in one limit of lits movement. The chamber inwhich piston or diaphragm H, is located communicates through an openingh, with the chamber formed between plate or casting B and casting A, andhence with the .explosion o r working chamber orcylinder O ofthe engineIn most engines tie explop sive charge is compressed to a desired degreeat the moment it is desired to effect the ev- In` this feature of theinvention I.

utilize the compression ofthe charge to effeet av movement ofvpiston Hin a direction to overcome spring h and to cause the rod or stem 3tomake contact with terminal 4, thus closing what is normally a gap orbreakin the electrical circuit.

I will now describe in more detail the electrical operation, referencebeing had to both of the figures.

Reference sign .K is the engine crank, which is connected to andreciprocates the iston `rod C, which carries the piston P.

he crank K carries a .projecting contact surface t, adapted, atthedesired period of time 1 and l?. in series with the coils and point` oftravel or rotation thereof, lto

contact with a stationary contacts ring T, for lthe plurpose of closingthe spar g circuit at t timer. 4

In Fig.,2, the piston is Vshown at the end of its compression stroke,the circuit is closedI between contacts'Tand t, the as in the explosionchamber and also in yt e space be tween plate B and casting A iscompressed,

the stem or rod 3 is presse Y terminal 4. 4Under these conditionscurrent passes'from thesource," for instance, a battery F, throughconnection 5, contacts T and t of the timer, the engine frameandconnecting parts, to arm @electrodes 1, 2, rod b, plate or castingB-pi'stonstem 3, terminal 4, connection 6, t

The assage of current through this closed circuit energi'zcs magnet E,thereupon attracting armature lever e,-which on its mov'ement towardsthe ole of 'ma net .E strikes collar b3, thereby Y reakingt e circuit byseparating electrodes 1, 2, and hence creating the spark which ignitesthe charge and. the

en e .begins its operation. Immediately fo owing the-circuitisbroken-betweenthe timer contacts T, t. This circuit remains brokenupon thereturn or exhaust stroke of the engine even when the Apoints T,t again contact with each other, for m such case'little ory nocompression takes place in the working chamber and hence the circuitwill bebroken-I of which holdscontactstem 3 out of contact 'I by thecontroller, the piston. or diaphragm with terminal 4, andhence no sarking ocing lna curs.` Thus the use -of the contro er,jinclud thepiston or diaphram H,"rod 3 termi` 4, and spring" hl, wf befound'advan'-4tageous in preventing Wasteofcurrent upon -the strokes ofthepistonwhere no sparking ired. The controller may e dis` is lreqdu penselcase of engines exploding a charge at every revolution of the crankshaft and wherein the s. eed is governed bythe character'o the exosion,and also. in eng eau de Rochas ordoub e cycle with a reducinggear.for-operating'the valves and ar` ran ed to ex lode a charge .at everysecond g fp L revolutiono 'fsive charge.

the crank and governing the speed by regulating the mixture of the'eXplo- 4 be placed on the'moving parts of theengine gear, so that the'timerfwill only l make con-v. 'f6.0

at any suitable point beyondsaid-V reducing tact lat each secondrevolution ofthe crank,

' the same being once-^at 'everyrevolution of and there orethecontroller,l pistoni- 1, rod

contact 4, 'and connections, may bedispensed the engine arts actuated bythe reducing gear e proper time, The contacts T, t, A constitute what iscommonly known as the ,into contact' with e windings of magnet E con-fnection 7 ,and thence returning to battery F.-

'with, if desired, and as be readily understood. is especially true intheines employingl the with, the timer contacts T, t, being all-thatisnecessary to complete the current circuit through the coils O magnet E.

As above indicated, any desired source of 'current may be employed, andin Fig. 2 `I have shown a'battery F,'for su plying the current.

It is obvious, however, t at my invention is of soot and ot er productsof combustion upon the contact points, which deposits being 'finisomeforms of apparatus of the priorart. A It will bereadily seen byrpersonsskilled in the art that a magnet E may be made small and the movingparts extremely light, there by securing great rapidity of movement ofthe circuitvrupturing devices. cided advantage, for the reason' that Iam enabled to employ small platinum or other tively small ezpense,whereas in the .case of larger parts an larger contact points orelectrodes, in order to satisfactorily withstand the mechanical shock'and wear to which they are all subjected, the use of platinum wouldinvolve an almost rohibitive eX- ense, and moreover, itis a weestablished actin actual ractice thatsmall wire electrodes are more ecient` in the production of sparksfor the purposefsetforth thanlarger'ones of the same material, therefore I not onl reducethe oportunity for 'mechanical wear y reducing ycreasethe `efficiency ot theapparatus while ap aratuslg courseitwill lbe readily understood byersonsskilled inthe art that instead of the ever v -'directly vbreakingthe-'circuit of magnet ;E,said lever may be arranged to break iaAseparate circuit of. 'sufficiently high voltage 'to roducethe requiredspark.'-

l- -aving now setforth-the" object and nature 'of-my invention :andvarious forms ot apparatus' and modes of procedure embody-' tinctlyunderstood that I d onotconne or limit myself to theexac-t'form andarrangem.ent shown',zas many changes therein 4and ment of the applaratusby reason .of deposits a conductor, rapldly establish short circuitsying the same, and havin ex lained the con-"- struction, `function, mo evo operation and electrical' actlonthereo, I desire it -to be dis- Thisis-a deinoxidizable metal or electrodes', at comparat e sizeof the partsin accordance with my inv ventionbut I also, and at the same time', in-+110 maintaining an equal length of life of the variations therefromwould vreadily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art andstill fall'within the yspirit and scope of my invention. But i v A WhatI do 'claim as new and useful and of my own invention .and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, isz

1. The combination with a gas engine cylinder,' a casting adapted to beapplied thereto and carrying' a fixed electrode, a movable electrodeprojecting onlyon the cylinder face of the-casting, a chamber in thecastingvopen `and for the puip inder, an electrode arranged t erein, acastcylinder, a lever arran adjacent to said ing applied to said cylinerl and carrying on its cy inder face a cooperating electrode, one

of said electrodes being movable,'a lever arranged on the cylindersideof said casting for moving saijd movable electrode, and anelectro-magnet arranged on the outside of.

said casting for actuating said lever, as and for the purpose set forth.

y3. The combination with a gas engine 'cylinder, of a casting adapted tobe ap lied thereto and carrying a .fixed electro e, a

4movable electrode extending only on the cylinderface of the casting,said casting being` provided with a chamber open only to the ed insaid'chamber movab e electrode for operating the latter,

as and for the purpose set forth.

-timin said circuit, and a magnet located outside of 4. The combinationwith a gas engine cylinder, of a pair of contacts arranged therein andin series in an electric circuit, means for closing said circuit, acasting adapted to be applied to said cylinder and provided with a camber open only to the cylinder, means arranged ,Within said chamber forrelatively moving said electrodes, and a magnet for op- .erating saidmeans, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with'a' gas engine cylinder, of a pair of relativelymovable contacts arranged to extend intosaid cylinder and arranged inseries in'an electric circuit, a -apparatus for automatically closingsaid cylinderand adapted when energized to relatively move saidelectrodes to break said circuit, as and for the pur ose set forth.

6. The combination wit a gas engine cylinder, of a pair of relativelymovable contacts arranged to extend therein and in series in an electriccircuit, -means for closing -said circuit at one point, a circuitcontroller for automatically closing saidv circuit at another point, andaniagnet located outside of said cylinder and arranged in; said circuit'and and an electro-magnet for actuating said lever,

' tact arranged Within I separating them,

engines, comprising a closed casing communi- .eating with the enginecylinder, contacts Whose contacting portions are located in saidcylinder, and an 'elcetro-magnetically-actuated device .located in saidcasing and adapted to impart a blow to one of said contacts, whereby itis separated from the other.

8. An igniting mechanism for combustion engines, comprising a closedcasingcommunieating with the engine cylinder, contacts Whose contactingportions are located in said cylinder, devices in said casing for iinarting a blow to one -of said contacts, wherelliy it is separated fromthe other contact, and an electro-magnet located outside of said casingfor operating said devices.

9. The combination, with the cylinder of a gas engine, of electrodesarranged within the cylinder, an electromagnet for separating the sameoutside the cylinder, other means forbringing them together, an electricgener- ,ator in circuit With the electrodes and with actuating thecircuit controller to complete the circuit and thereby actuating theelectromagnet and the electrodes to produce the spark.`

`10. The combination, with the cylinder of a gas engine, of electrodesWithin the cylinder, an electromagnet arranged outside the cylinder tooperate the electrodes, an electric generator for energizing the magnet,a circuit controller for the circuit ofthe generator, and meansconnected to a inovablepart ol' the engine for actuating the circuitcontroller and thereby actuating the electromagnet to operate theelectrodes.

11. The combination, With the cylinder of a gas engine, of electrodesnormally inconthe cylinder, automatic means 4for bringing them together,an electromagnet arranged outside the cylinder for an electric generatorthe circuit of which includes the electi'oimignct and the electrodes,means connected to a movable part of the engine for closing the electriccircuit through the magnet and electrodes whereby when the circuit isclosed by said-means the electrodes are operated by the electroinagnetand the automatic means to produce a series lof sparks.

12. T he combination, with the cylinder of a gas engine, of twoelectrodes, mechanical means for bringing the electrodes into contact,an electromagnet for separating the electrodes, an electric circuitincluding the electrodes and the electromagnet whereby theelectroinagnet is energized or denergizcd by the making or breaking ofthe contact be- In witness whereof I have hereunto set my tween theelectrodes, and means connected tov hand this 23rd day of March, 1'897,in the 10 a movable part of the engine controlling the ypresence of ,theSubscribing witnesses.

' circuit of the magnet and electrodes whereby 5 when said circuit isclosed .by said means the I fEON O'- MCPHERSON circuit of the magnetis'automatically made Attest: i and broken to produce a series of sparks'at FRANK -T.A BROWN,

the electrode. S. HUTcHIsoN.

